Collapsible tubes have generally been difficult to completely compress in order to express all of the contents from the tube. As a result, there have been a number of devices developed in the art to aid in rolling in order to squeeze the contents therefrom in an efficient and smooth manner. These devices have, by and large, been fairly complicated or bulky arrangements and may have included a rigid outer housing in which a winding member can be inserted. The closed end of the tube would be inserted into the winding member and both would then be inserted into the outer housing structure. Often the outer housing was made of porcelain or some solid material so that the tube would be supported by the device. As additional material was needed from the tube, a key like handle rigidly connected to the winding member could be turned. This would pull the tube downwardly into or toward a slot type opening, normally including converging outer flanges or lips. As the tube was forced through that opening, material in the tube would be expressed toward the opposite end. The tube would be wound between the winding member and the inside of the housing so that the amount of tube that could be rolled would be limited by the interior space therebetween.
Exemplary of this type of structure include that disclosed in Farrow, U.S. Pat. No. 2,808,963, Songer, U.S. Pat. No. 2,896,822, Ballin, U.S. Pat. No. 3,473,698 and Leeson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,880,328.
Some tubes have also included integral winding devices such as in Kinne et al, U.S. Pat. No. 610,355, Huntoon, U.S. Pat. No. 1,310,083, Ellington, U.S. Pat. No. 706,732, Morrison, U.S. Pat. No. 955,530, and Farnum, U.S. Pat. No. 1,559,565.
Dietz, U.S. Pat. No. 2,862,647, discloses a locking curler for resilient tubes and comprises a metal sheet folded to form a hollow, tubular member that includes a tube receiving slot. One end is flattened and bent back upon itself to form a finger tab. A separate spring wire locking member is pivotally secured at the point of the bend in the flattened finger tab area and can pivot through an arc from one side of the tubular member to the other. The locking member is constructed from spring wire and includes a pair of arms extending generally parallel to the axis of the tubular portion and are joined together by a rear horizontal portion forming part of the hinge. Additionally, the wire includes two inwardly directed stops which abut the flattened portion. Accordingly, the arms swing through planes generally parallel to and spaced from the axis of the tubular portion.
Regan, U.S. Pat. No. 2,903,162, shows three embodiments of a lockable winding key for use with collapsible wall tubes. Two are similar in construction to two types of hair barretts while the third is comprised of two non-circular wound spring segments joined together by a rod that extends parallel to the axis of the winder and acts as the tube restrainer. The two wound spring segments are shaped to resist rotation relative to the tube coiler. One of the other embodiments comprised a tubular coiling portion and a closed loop retaining wire pivotally connected to one end of the tubular portion and releasably secured at the opposite end when in its closed position. In that closed position, one side of the retaining wire loop will be pressed against the tube's exterior and prevent relative rotation of the tube to the tubular portion. The other embodiment includes a winding bar to which a single retaining bar is pivotally attached at one end and the opposite free end is releasably secured to the other. Thus, when the free end is secured in place, the retaining bar is positioned directly over and is axially aligned with the winding bar.
Duiker, U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,969, discloses a rotatable mandrel over which a tube collapsing roller is positioned by a wire support that flexes to accommodate an increasing radius as the tube is collapsed and which maintains the tube in its wound or rolled condition. The roller remains engaged with the mandrel or tube and the ends of the mandrel include arms or turning lugs at each end which are simultaneously counter-rotated to rotate the mandrel and move the tube relative to the collapsing roller.
In each of the patents cited above, means for rolling the collapsible tube on the mandrel and means for preventing the wound tube from unwinding are provided by separate structures.